out of all the character breakfasts I would have to say kids get the most interaction with them at Surfs Up! and they come around more than once...I honestly dont think you will need to stay 2 hours to get what you want Jade unless you really want to eat a lot...and although I cant be positive, because we never go to it that late, I dont think they serve breakfast past 11:30 or so...therefore I would strongly consider going earlier...you wont have to worry about not getting to see them

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Surf's Up is a great one for the interaction. A 10am reservation will give you enough time for characters & eating!!

Just wanted to give a heads up for today (Thursday)......I will be leaving in a few hours for a memorial out of town, so I will be unable to respond to questions until tomorrow. Hopefully if a question does arise, another reader will be able to help you.

I called Disney Dining and they said Minnies opening will change depending on when the park opens. But the last seating will always be 10:50 with food pulled and characters gone at 11:30 so they can swith over to Plaza Inn for lunch

So excited for this thread! As you can tell from my signature, meeting characters is my fav thing to do at Disney. I'm going to Disneyland for the first time ever in December, and I'm trying to decide which character meals to do. The hardest part is that most are breakfast only (not planning on doing Ariel's), and there are days I want to get to DCA at rope drop for Carsland...but I only have so many days during the trip! I'm sure I'll be back later with questions, so thanks again for the thread!

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This is why we do character breakfasts on the day we leave (on a non-park day). That way we don't feel like we're missing out in the morning. No pressure to hurry back to the park.

So far we've only done the Surf's Up breakfast, which was really fun. We had Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Stitch. The characters came by our table several times each, and spent a LOT of time with DD. Stitch tried to climb into DD's high chair, which she throught was hilarious. They also get the kids up to dance, do surf lessons, that sort of thing. Our little girl just loved it!

This time we're going to try the Goofy's Kitchen breakfast. I'm excited to see how many different characters they have there in all your pictures! I hope we see Mulan, that's DD's favorite movie at the moment.

Thanks for starting this thread, this is just the info I was looking for.

This is why we do character breakfasts on the day we leave (on a non-park day). That way we don't feel like we're missing out in the morning. No pressure to hurry back to the park.

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Our flight home is at 10pm, so it's still going to be a park day for us. (For WDW, we always get the first flight in & the last flight out, so we have as much time as possible in the parks. ) One of the days during the trip, though, I'm probably going to do a few other things in SoCal. I'm hoping to do a character breakfast then, but I'm not sure how early we'll have to leave that day, so I hope we can fit it in.

DizNee Luver said:

One other thing to remember: There is always a "Character Manager"....someone that stands & observes during the meal. If you haven't seen a character (and you've been waiting for a while), please go up and nicely let them know. Sometimes the characters forget where they left off if they go up to dance or help the kids surf, etc. They don't try to miss tables, but it can happen by mistake.

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I just want to recommend this too. I know it's WDW, but the first time we went to Chef Mickeys, we had met every character (some more than once), but NOT Mickey! How can you do Chef Mickey's and not meet him, right? They do a little dance/parade thing, and he'd always be right by our table when that started, but when it was over, he didn't come back. And we had one of the latest times, so we were worried we just wouldn't see him before the characters left. We asked someone, and finally they brought him over & we were able to get out of there, lol.

Btw, I've never done character meals with kids (usually I'm with my mom, one time I was with friends), and it's still always a blast. Don't think character meals are just for kids!

Our flight home is at 10pm, so it's still going to be a park day for us. (For WDW, we always get the first flight in & the last flight out, so we have as much time as possible in the parks. ) One of the days during the trip, though, I'm probably going to do a few other things in SoCal. I'm hoping to do a character breakfast then, but I'm not sure how early we'll have to leave that day, so I hope we can fit it in.

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Oh, gotcha. We drive to & from Disneyland, so we always have a little time in the morning before we head home. Hope you find time to squeeze one in!

Also, I agree that character meals are fun for everyone, not just kids. DH and I went to WDW 6 times before we had DD, and we always did the Pooh character meal at the Crystal Palace. So fun! They were always good sports & let us take pics with them. Now that we have a 3-year-old, the character meals are 10x MORE fun! Nothing like seeing the look on a child's face when they meet Minnie Mouse in person. Priceless.

She was there this past Sunday and was fantastic! So beautiful and spent so much time talking with DD4 and DD6

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Awesome! Hope we get to see her too.

I have another question for anyone who has gone to the dinner at Ariel's Grotto: since they stopped doing the World of Color dinner package there, they have the princesses at dinner now, correct? My husband found some info saying they weren't at dinner, but I think that was old info. Thanks.

I just want to recommend this too. I know it's WDW, but the first time we went to Chef Mickeys, we had met every character (some more than once), but NOT Mickey! How can you do Chef Mickey's and not meet him, right?

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Mickey is my favorite character...I have Mickey stuff on my clothes, in my living room, all over...I love him and when I went to wdw in dec. it was my most looked forward to restaurant..I got to see him for a total of 2 min. the entire time...I was soooo sad..I really wanted a longer interaction with him and we were one of the first people of the day...the restaurant wasnt even filled half way up....it was drepressing

I called Disney Dining and they said Minnies opening will change depending on when the park opens. But the last seating will always be 10:50 with food pulled and characters gone at 11:30 so they can swith over to Plaza Inn for lunch

So far we've only done the Surf's Up breakfast, which was really fun. We had Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Stitch. The characters came by our table several times each, and spent a LOT of time with DD. Stitch tried to climb into DD's high chair, which she throught was hilarious. They also get the kids up to dance, do surf lessons, that sort of thing. Our little girl just loved it!

This time we're going to try the Goofy's Kitchen breakfast. I'm excited to see how many different characters they have there in all your pictures! I hope we see Mulan, that's DD's favorite movie at the moment.

Thanks for starting this thread, this is just the info I was looking for.

Also, I agree that character meals are fun for everyone, not just kids. DH and I went to WDW 6 times before we had DD, and we always did the Pooh character meal at the Crystal Palace. So fun! They were always good sports & let us take pics with them. Now that we have a 3-year-old, the character meals are 10x MORE fun! Nothing like seeing the look on a child's face when they meet Minnie Mouse in person. Priceless.

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I have pictures of that very thing......My daughter was in tears as she hugged Minnie!! Very special!!

I have another question for anyone who has gone to the dinner at Ariel's Grotto: since they stopped doing the World of Color dinner package there, they have the princesses at dinner now, correct? My husband found some info saying they weren't at dinner, but I think that was old info. Thanks.

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When it was the WoC dining package, there were no characters.....but since they are no longer offering the WoC at Ariel's, the princesses are there for breakfast, lunch & dinner!!

Mickey is my favorite character...I have Mickey stuff on my clothes, in my living room, all over...I love him and when I went to wdw in dec. it was my most looked forward to restaurant..I got to see him for a total of 2 min. the entire time...I was soooo sad..I really wanted a longer interaction with him and we were one of the first people of the day...the restaurant wasnt even filled half way up....it was drepressing

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I'm sorry that it was a short interaction.....especially when you envision something different. I think it's best to go into any character meal with the knowledge that the character will come to your table, sign an autograph book & pose for a couple pictures. Anything on top of that is priceless!!!! (PS: I love Mickey too!!)

Ariel's Grotto is a wonderful character meal, but it is a lot more regimented and less spontaneously fun than the others. The princess stop at each table, picture, autograph, hug, done. No games or silliness with the characters. For my princess
loving 5 year old however, it was magical. We went to BBB right before for a princess makeover to make it even more special. I thought the food was great (we had lunch).We are going to do it again when we go back in December!

Ariel's Grotto is a wonderful character meal, but it is a lot more regimented and less spontaneously fun than the others. The princess stop at each table, picture, autograph, hug, done. No games or silliness with the characters. For my princess
loving 5 year old however, it was magical. We went to BBB right before for a princess makeover to make it even more special. I thought the food was great (we had lunch).We are going to do it again when we go back in December!

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Thank you for the beautiful pics & review!! Do they still do have a "page" or "knight" announcing each princess & teaching the kids how to curtsey & bow??

Ariel's Grotto is a wonderful character meal, but it is a lot more regimented and less spontaneously fun than the others. The princess stop at each table, picture, autograph, hug, done. No games or silliness with the characters.

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I was just discussing this with DH last night when deciding whether to go back here. My girls do love the dancing/singing/repeat visits you get at the other character meals - BUT - they actually have time to eat their food at Ariel's Grotto

When we are the others they are either interacting, getting up to dance, taking pictures, or just scoping out who the next character will be to come visit us. At Ariel's - after the last princess comes by - we ALL get to relax and enjoy the food and still have wonderful memories with the princesses.